AN: Well the first section of the next chapter is now at a point where I'm unlikely to make any further changes and there's just so happens to be a perfect break point, so I decided to upload it on its own. It's a tad short though, so sorry if that's disappointing.

Luz lay down on her bed, flicking through the pages of her freshly-replaced Good Witch Azura book. Yeah, she had already read it through several times, but she's had to wait an eternity (actually only a few months, but still) to get a replacement after losing her other copy, so could you really blame her?

But just as she was about to get to the best part, her attention was drawn by a knocking at her door. "Mama? Do you need something?"

Except when the door opened it wasn't her mother but instead a terrible, ferocious, inhuman monstr-

"Oh hey Vee." Luz looked back to her book and flicked to the next page. "'Sup?"

". . ."

Luz looked back over to see Vee fiddling with her claws. "Vee?" she asked with concern, "is something wrong?"

Her newly-adopted basilisk sister (and yeah, it was still so cool that was something she could say) took a deep breath. "I… I-" Vee looked down in shame. "I messed up Luz."

Luz frowned, placing a bookmark in her book and closing it. Azura was important, but this more so (and wasn't it funny that if you suggested that to her just a while ago she would have raged at you for being a heretic). "Okay, what happened?"

Vee pulled herself up next to her sister. "Well… you know how I use magic to transform?"

Luz did remember her mentioning that a few times. "Yeah?"

Vee curled up her tail in equal parts nervousness and embarrassment. "Well I'm… kind of running low."

Luz's expression suddenly became worried. "…How low, exactly?"

"…Very," Vee admitted.

Okay yeah, that did sound bad. "…You know in hindsight this sounds like something we should have thought of earlier."

"I…" Vee looked down in shame. "Apparently I thought I had more than I did."

The two sat in silence for a moment before Luz perked up. "So all we need to do is find magic, right?"

Vee shook her head. "It's not that simple, there isn't any magic in this realm… or at least I haven't smelled any."

"Don't worry." Luz smiled. "I have an idea."

"Luz, where are we going?" Vee said as she followed her sister down the wooded path, praying against all odds that the answer wasn't going to be what she thought.

"You'll see," Luz replied cryptically, which did nothing to improve Vee's hopes.

After a short period of walking, Luz threw out her arms. "Ta-DA!" she exclaimed, gesturing to the portal shack with pizzazz. Not that it deserved any, being just as decrepit as they remembered. In fact it may have been even worse, because last time they apparently missed the giant pile of trash to the side.

Vee gave her a flat look. "No," she said simply.

Luz deflated. "Bu-but I didn't even finish…"

"Were you about to suggest going to the Isles?"

"…Yes…"

"No," Vee repeated.

"But you said it yourself, there isn't any magic on this side," Luz protested. "Meanwhile, there's plenty over there!" As she spoke Luz continued towards the cabin.

"It's way to dangerous!" Vee argued back, following close behind. "And besides, we promised Mom…"

"She'll…" Luz bit her lip. "She'd understand. And we'll only be there for a few minutes, so there won't be anything to worry about."

Vee looked at her slightly accusatorially. "You just want to see the Isles, don't you?"

Luz paused at the foot of the porch. "That's… not the only reason," she said before continuing on. Reaching the door she turned around. "Listen, I know it's a risk, but all we need to go in, find something, and come back." She pushed the door open behind her, and Vee paled as she did so. "It'll be real quick, and no one will have to kno-"

"*Ah-HEM*"

Luz's eyes bulged in surprise. Slowly, she looked behind and above her to come face-to-face with a pair of mismatched eyes and a wild head of gray hair..

The red-clad, headband-sporting woman crossed her arms and drummed her fingers. "And just what do you think you're doing here?" she asked in an irritated tone.

"U-Us?" Vee stammered, before shooting back with "Wha-what are you doing here?"

The woman turned her glare glare over to the disguised demon. "I live here."

"Y-you do?"

Luz interjected "We, uh… What she means is that we thought this place was abandoned, that's all."

The woman's glare softened a bit. "Oh… yeah, we only moved in a couple weeks ago." She gestured around. "Had this place in the family for a while now, and decided to try cleaning the ol' girl up a bit." At this she gave the doorframe a solid thunk for emphasis.

A shutter fell off from one of the windows.

"…It's a work in progress," the woman added.

"I see…" Luz was still a tad unsure. Although to be fair, what little she could see of the interior looked at least somewhat furnished. "So, uh… who ar-"

Vee's hands suddenly wrapped around her sister's wrist. "okaywellsorrytobotheryou, nicemeetingyou, we'lljustbegoingnow, goodbye!" she spat out quickly, dragging Luz away.

"Uh okay, bye, I guess," Luz said, waving with her free hand.

The woman gave a slight wave as well before closing the door back up.

On the other side of the door, as soon as it was fully shut, a small black creature poked its skull-like head out from its hiding spot. "So who was that?" it asked.

The woman shrugged. "Eh, just a couple kids. Sounded like they were on a dare or something." She looked back with a frown. "Though I swear they looked familiar…" she muttered.

Back outside, Vee had reached the point where the shack was out of sight and finally released her hold on Luz. "So who the heck was that?" the latter thought out loud, rubbing her wrist.

"That was the Owl Lady," Vee said in a panicked manner.

Luz's head snapped over to her. "A-as in the witch with the portal?" When Vee nodded she looked back the way they came. "What's she doing on this side?"

"Living here, apparently."

"Yeah, but… why?"

Vee threw her hands up. "How should I know!? Maybe she finally had enough running from the Coven… Like me."

"Wait, the Emperor doesn't like her either?"

"Yeah, something about her using wild magic."

Luz raised an eyebrow. "What's 'wild magic,' and how's that any different from regular magic?"

Vee raised a finger, but her mouth closed as soon as it opened. "You know, I don't think anyone ever actually explained that to me. But apparently it's really dangerous, whatever it is."

"…Okay, putting aside the 'really dangerous' part, maybe this is actually a good thing."

Vee blinked. "How?" she asked incredulously.

"Well I mean…" Luz held her hand palm up, "she's against the Emperor…" she held her other hand up, "you're against the Emperor…" her hands began moving up and down as if weighing something, "maybe the two of you could… you know…"

Vee sighed and shook her head. "I appreciate the thought, but… it's too big a risk. Basilisks are one of the most feared species in the realm, no one would want to help one."

Luz snorted. "What? 'Most feared?' Come on." She took out her phone and pulled up a selfie she took with Vee's true form. "Who could be scared of this adorable little face?"

A smile grew on Vee's face at the compliment, but it fell just as quickly. "You remember how you told me about witch hunts?"

Luz raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?" And wasn't that an awkward conversation to have.

"Well, we didn't have those, we had… basilisk… hunts…" Vee admitted.

Luz looked the demon in the eyes, but whatever words she was about to say died on her lips. Vee frowned, not entirely comfortable with the stare. "Do I uh… have something on my face?"

"Yeah, spots," Luz replied, using her phone to show Vee a live feed of her own face. Sure enough, small cream-colored blotches of skin dotted her cheeks.

Vee's breathing suddenly grew heavier. Apparently it was worse than she thought. "Oh no. No no nonono…" This panic only made things worse, as the blotches slowly grew larger.

"Hey, no, none of that," Luz said, pulling Vee in close. "It's okay, it's okay," she whispered. "We'll fix this."

Vee's breathing stabilized and her spots stopped shifting, though they didn't shrink any either. "Thanks," she replied.

The two stood there a while, neither wanting to break off the hug. Eventually though, Luz asked the question that she dreaded asking but needed to know the answer to anyways. "Be honest, worst case scenario… what happens if we can't find you anything?"

". . ."

"Observational report regarding effects of hunger on subjects," the scout muttered into his recording stone. "Starvation appears to result in-"

"FEED ME FEED ME FEED ME!" a voice roared through the hall.

"-noticeable increase in aggressionand feral behavior. Interestingly the effects are less pronounced, or perhaps simply slower-acting, on the younger subjects. This is likely due to them not needing as much sustenance as their elders. Individual subject reports as follows…"The remainder of his report was unable to be heard as he walked out of earshot.

As he left, Number Five remained curled up in a ball, desperately trying to ignore the cries of her elders, as well as the hunger gnawing at her own stomach.

"…Nothing good," Vee admitted.

"Okay, well… good thing we won't have to worry then, because it won't come to that," Luz said confidently. "So asking's out of the question then?"

"I'd… really rather not…"

"Okay, but there was magic in there, right?"

"Well, it could be just been left over from the portal, but… I think so?" Vee said hesitantly.

Luz nodded. "Right… so I probably shouldn't be suggesting this, but… we don't really need to, you know… ask?" She smiled nervously as she suggested this.

Vee was silent for a moment as she considered this, before sighing and shaking her head. "No, who knows what kind of wards she has set up."

"Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense." Still, might be worth keeping in mind as a last resort option. "Don't worry, we'll find something else." She may not have any idea what that "something" was, but they'd find it. There wasn't any other option.

AN: Like I said, a bit short but the next part's coming along nicely, so hopefully it'll be coming sooner rather than later. In the meantime, if you like what you read, please consider supporting me; I currently accept donations in the form of dark pacts, ritual sacrifice (blood or otherwise), and/or comments.